Welcome to TES V Ideas and Suggestions # 156

This thread is for ideas and suggestions for TES:V and to keep all the general discussion in one series of threads.

To discuss major issues, use a separate topic, such as the levelling topic.

Other general topics on this will either be closed or moved here.

Please at least try to read the previous few threads to avoid too much repetition: Note, there has been a lot of off topic and unnecessary discussion in past topics, please ensure that any posts you make in this thread are suitable to the subject being discussed. The moderators will be keeping a close eye on the content.


http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1023937
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1025326
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1026491
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1027877
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1028435
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1029965
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1031535
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1032326
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1034439
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1036286
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1038148
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1041304
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1044483
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1048173
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1051579
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1054161
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1056032
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1057095
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1057491
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1058753
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1059919
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1060496
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1061859
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1062426
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1063704
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1064713
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1065099
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1066038
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1067210
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1068055
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1068896
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1070974
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1071845
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1073698
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1075858
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1077394

We should populate the world with animals appropriate to the culture and landscape and lore of the land in which TESV is set. For instance, when I was playing TESIII I never saw a wolf or a bear or a lion, they simply did not exist, in fact there were very few if any regular animals from this world in TESIII at all. When I played Oblivion, almost every single animal in the game was a wolf, bear, panther, lion, or some similar such...

I want TESV to be populated entirely with animals I have never seen or heard or thought of before. I want an entirely new ecosystem which I will have to discover and work out for myself as I had to when I visited Morrowind. I don't really want bears or lions or wolves, I want to be surprised when I enter the world.

Stephen.

EDIT: I want to run into giant spider-like creatures that take care of their young and make very good pets for the citizens of 'wherever' (Else where/elswyr hopefully...) I want to find friendly looking fur balls that have very sharp teeth, I want to watch animals hunt each other in a big circle of life, I want the plants to be destructible so when I find a flock of insect like creatures feeding on the trees they actually do destroy the plant life, or a locust (or similar) swarm, (I want to be able to cut down trees and plants but that's another topic) I'd like to run into the big beast of the ecosystem every now and then, whatever it is, like a giant rabbit which eats the insect creatures and the fuzzy toothed creatures and the lizard creatures and so forth, which is very hard to kill, but you wouldn't want to kill it, or rather you wouldn't have to because it might be intelligent.

I want to run into people farming some of these various sorts of creatures for different reasons, such as collecting eggs, drinking the juice from the insect legs, making fur pelts from the psycho fur balls, communicating with trees through the lizard creatures, hunting with some flying creature, and so on and so forth.

Stephen.

I hated the difficulty system.

It should be more realistic.

If I am to die in 3 hits so be it, but I want the same to go for my enemies, since they mostly outnumber you it can be a nice challenge without spending 10 minutes on each enemy.

I feel what you said there, while I like the animals in oblivion, I was dissapointed of how many unoriginal monsters that where. Minotaurs, ogres, trolls? There wasn't really any monster that we haven't seen in other rpg's or in Morrowind.

You bring up some great arguments however there are a few things I wanted to point out. In order to do this as orderly as possible I will answer each paragraph separately.

1st paragraph:
The BLACK bears featured in Oblivion would NOT attack on sight in most cases. Have you ever been to the Adirondack State Park in New York? Bears there (and in many other places) are so accustomed to humans that they actually stay near towns in order to eat the trash and left over food of humans. So while the Adirondack State Park is a highly developed area (many people have cottages in the park) which leads to more bear-human interaction, a land like cyrodiil would not have nearly as much interaction between the two. Believe it or not this makes bears less aggressvie towards humans because they do not associate humans with trash and food like they do in the Adirondacks.

Many areas out west which are not as developed and contain different species of bear (like the brown bear) the case is much different. Human-bear interaction occurs less... HOWEVER the species there is much more aggressive in general (not to mention the average brown bear is nearly double the size of a black bear). The instincts of the bears are also much different, black bear males are less aggressive than the females, while brown bears are more aggressive in general. I personally (which I know does not make me an expert in the least, I'm just stating personal experiences as a reference) have had interactions with ONLY black bears in the wild, but I do know a couple of shouts and smacking two sticks together is almost always enough to discourage a curious black bear (not so with a female and cubs).

So what does this tell us? Basically black bears in the game should not be SO aggressive towards you. I think they should be much more passive in general. If they actually implemented cubs into the game then make females more territorial HOWEVER if you leave the territory she will not chase and abandon the cubs. Brown bears should be aggressive in general but also very RARE. Whats more they should not always attack you on sight.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/black_bear.php
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/grizzly_bear.php


2nd paragraph:
Of course wolves are successful hunters... I'm not disputing that at all. But a successful turkey hunter probably wouldn't be a successful lion hunter. Wolves spend the vast majority of their time at rest, when they do hunt it's usually for something easy to catch (they are opportunistic hunters) so usually rodents, smaller animals, etc. Wolves don't live in packs 24/7 (Packs btw average between 4-7 wolves) so I'm not 100% sure where you heard about massive packs of 10-20. When they do hunt for larger game (often to take advantage of herd animals and basically score big on the readily available food source) they eat the weak, elderly, and sick animals which actually improves the health of the herd as well as decreases their numbers which has a positive effect and prevents overgrazing. I know this is a debated topic but its obvious due to modern wolf research going on. Whats more is that there has NEVER been a documented attack of a healthy wolf attacking a human being in north america.

What does this tell us? Wolves (especially single ones like in oblivion) SHOULD NEVER be hostile towards the player.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/wolf,_gray.php#

3rd Paragraph:
ahh yes the mountain lion... stalk and kill humans? I'm not sure on that (as you'll read in a second or two) But do they attack humans? Sure do, but only 4 on average each year and only 1 of those is a fatality. African lions... I don't think I EVER saw one of these in oblivion. Plus I never mentioned them in my original post.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-lion.html

What does this tell us? Mountain lions in the game should seldom ever attack a human. Maybe once in a blue moon. African Lions? Yeah knock yourself out, if they actually put these in the next game.

4th Paragraph:
I don't think any of those should attack you if you get to close. I think they would much rather flee and eat something they know won't fight back. Wolves NOPE not even if there were a hundred million bazillion of them!!!1111. Mountain Lions VERY RARELY. Black Bears ONLY WITH CUBS and if you don't leave the area first. Brown Bears SHOULD BE RARE to begin with and if you actually encounter one... MAYBE attack.

Fight to the death? Mammals such as the one discussed above almost never fight to the death. Most of the times when they fight its a territorial dispute. But when they see a meal and want to try to take it down, if it puts up a fight they will almost ALWAYS abandon it. No animal will risk death or severe injury to one meal because they know they will die and there is plenty of food elsewhere. Even sharks know this! Put up a fight and they will go away.


In conclusion:
So yeah sure it's fun to kill things that are weaker than you, if you want realism then making animals hostile is not the way to go.

I know this comes across like me being a jerk, please I don't mean anything personally. I just know for a fact there are a lot of misconceptions out there on animals and feel I have to clear them up.

I'd like to see some bigger creatures. None of the big creatures seen in TES are really "big." I want to explore explore a certain area of the game and be always on edge because of the giant creatures that roam there. Sure, smaller creatures can be scary, but you get a unique sense of accomplishment when you defeat a creature that's so much bigger than you are.

If they added a nautical side to the game with pirates, ships, and ports. They could add huge Kraken like creates or squids and sharks! Haha, its a thought

Lets hope so, huge deep sea creatures are arguably the most scary of them all.

At least if you are afraid of drowning like me.

Well, what about a colossus like creature, something that walks(or flies or crawls) on land which is so big you can see and hear them for miles. Like something on the scale of the giant mudcrab shell the redoran lived in in morrowind, but not a mudcrab, something that big or bigger that just wanders about like it owns the place.

Stephen.

The kinda things i wanna see are big bulky creatures like the frost demons in TES III, i also wanna see different variations and diversity within species. i don't wanna see a clanfear and then a bigger clanfear that is stronger. maybe one that has a more dominant looking creast, and smaller ones with a very small crest. maybe females that don't have crests or have smaller ones, and the bigger animals should have animations that suit their size: If you have a giant rat, you don't want it to jump over your head every time it attacks you, you want it to bite you and be less agile than the smaller variations.

I would also like to see better animal AI as has been said. have wolves only attack in packs when the set group is flagged as hungry and there are no prey animals in the area. and maybe have them actually feed rather than, kill and walk off becasue that is soo wasteful, i want to be able to walk arround the wasteland and watch animals behaving like animals. then when a tree nearby comes to life to scare off the animals i could go in an beat the tree up for being unreasonable. also some animals could go out hunting whilst another stayes with the cubs kinda thing.

I want TES V to be a really realistic and beautiful world, i want realistic animations which show weather effecting the landscape with watter dripping off of leaves after a heavy rain storm. i want seasons. so that the trees will lose their leaves and the ponds will freeze over during the winter, and if i wanted i could go down to the pond and cast a fireball to melt it.

I would like variation in spell look and animation dependant on magnitude and area. as well as different types of a certain magic spell e.g. fire ball, flamethrower, sparks, ignite etc...

PS: btw has anything been said about TES V yet??

Get rid of the omnipresent orchestra. Instead, use context sensitive music, or at least provide the option. The music will sound ten times better if it isn't activated by every enemy and playing in aloop.

Make shops actually usefull.

First of all, no need to apologize for coming off as a jerk, this is simply an intelligent debate, and neither of us have resorted to insults....yet.

Most of my information comes from a research paper I did for an Environmental Conservation Biology class. The majority of the paper was actually on the reintroduction of the gray wolf into Wisconsin. Most wolves do live in packs nearly constantly, even if it is only two wolves starting a new pack. Occasionally you will have lone wolves, often times alphas who have been for whatever reason kicked out of their pack, who for obvious reasons would stalk smaller prey. Packs are not commonly found in groups as large as 15-20 in the continental united states, but in Alaska, where 90% of government protected land exists, they are not uncommon, and it is strictly for the purposes of taking down prey that is very large and dangerous. However, here in Wisconsin there is a place called Isle Royale, where there are about 3 packs of 5-10 wolves who almost exclusively hunt the moose that live there. This has been documented by tracking as well as aerial surveillence. This is also where I got information concerning wolves attacking elderly or sick moose. It may be less deliberate and simply more chance. As for wolves attacking people... http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-01-14/home-and-garden/17277857_1_wolves-attacks-wolf

Only one was fatal, but that is what we know of. How many missing hikers were actually prey to a large predator, and how many simply broke a leg and starved to death? How many were a combination of the two? And like I said, medieval Europe is a different story. Before industrialization you have much more forest, many more wolves, and let's say a harsh winter killed off 40% of the deer...stuff happens. Wolves did not acquire their (now undeserved) reputation simply for looking scary. In fact, they look exactly like one of man's best friend.

Mountain lions. Unusual to attack people? Yes, but for all the reasons I've mentioned before, such as marginalization and conditioning to humans with guns. There was a case not too many years back of a jogger (no I can't say where, but I think California) who was viciously mauled by a mountain lion. She lived, after her friend beat it away with a stick. After the animal was found and shot, they also discovered another male jogger who had actually been killed. This one lion had developed a habit of hunting humans, because it realized modern joggers are not as dangerous as the pioneer folk who probably killed it's great great great great grandcatty.

I mentioned African lions only as a comparison to show that it's not some innate animal benevolence that keeps them from attacking humans, just odds of success, and a video game mountain lion could certainly be as deadly as a real life African lion.

As for fighting to the death, it's not as if the animal is conscious of its mortality, only how much it's been wounded. A deer will run away at the sight of you. A mountain lion might run away after being hit by a stick, and a bear might run away after being shot (black bears aside, there have been bodies of mauled hunters found with empty rifles or pistols.) The idea is, an animal will not choose to "fight to the death" but simply will not run away from initial resistance, and as a result may die in the attack.

And, not to resort to type, but it is a video game. I'm not saying it should be completely unrealistic, but just as Orcs are in fact fantasy versions of real human cultures (mongols, huns, etc) animals should be fantasy versions of their real world counterparts, and for the sake of excitement, that may mean they are deadlier and more inclined to attack. But that is not to ignore that there are in fact many cases of animals killing people, whether for food or defense. Don't get me wrong, modern cases are often inflated and exaggerated to the detriment of the animals, and I certainly feel like they should be protected rather than exterminated. But I certainly DON'T want animals that are MORE friendly than their real world counterparts. There are ways in game (command creature) if you want to be one with nature, but everyone else should have to sneak or fight their way past.

Having buildings connect with the out-side world a bit more?

Maybe adding a "camera" and "screen" type of a tool so that you can place the "screen" outside the window in the Interior cell, and the camera that connects to it outside, and visa versa?

So that way somebody can walk by, and you don't have to feel like you're looking into a black-hole when you walk next to a window?

Well... if it's in Skyrim. Skyrim implies Nords, which implies vikings, which implies sea monsters.

Therefore there must be sea monsters!

Release The Kraken!!!!!!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9z_ykYCxP4&feature=related

I want places to be big and spread out like in fallout 3, espically with more in riched settlements like fallout 3. I would also like fast travel to make a return so i won't end up wasting 150 hours of my life just traveling from city to city.

Make a return? Fallout 3 has fast-travel.

Well, you should never say never when it comes to an able-bodied wild animal. If attacks are rare from certain species, then they're rare. Not nonexistent. Just about anything heavy and large enough to tackle a man has at least tried to attack man. I saw on TV yesterday (Animal Planet) about animal attack stories; a married couple were out hiking, and were being cornered into a low area by a wolf pack, higher above, and around them. The larger alpha male from the group charged at them, and they successfully ran away. But you could imagine what the intentions were.

Even deer have attacked people. More than once. Cute fuzzy deer.
So it happens. I wouldn't dismiss any of these possibilities.

And this is fantasy, anyway. To present a few minor challenges here and there, everything needs to be hostile. Unless it's an Oblivion deer, who is only passing through the area, looking for Fireball donations.

I feel that it was incredibly unrealistic to have no means of public transport in Cyrodiil other than horses (and boats that never moved). Fast travel doesn't count because only the player could use it. Everyone in Cyrodiil could only walk or use a horse to get from place to place. If Vvardenfell had a public transit system in place, why on earth wouldn't Cyrodiil? This isn't a matter of fast travel, but rather a matter of realism. If TESV is going to be in any way realistic, it absolutely needs to have transit in-between the major cities. Even if fast travel is left in, it just doesn't make sense for any province in Tamriel not to have a public transit system. If I suddenly gained the ability to teleport, and I was the only one in the world with this ability, why would it make any sense for the rest of the world to get rid of their public transit systems?

thats what im saying make a return from fallout 3.....

before animals get a better AI, people need to stop bull-rushing the enemy and giving away my position.

This goes along with my buyable furniture idea. You can by plaques, sword racks, or displays and it you click it, it will take you to somewhat of a mini-game where you can open your inventory and select what you want placed. Sword racks can hold up to five swords, a plaque will hold one and a display case can hold two or three depending on the size. Left thumbstick for moving and right for flipping.

Return of old spells Mark/recall, levitate, jump, noise etc.
Make current useless spells worthwhile. Burden, either don't make people walk around with virtually no gear or make the burden spell effect ranges in a place where it will actually you know burden the target.
Spell Making have power/duration/area max amounts variable by the type of spell. Feather should not cap at 100 in power, especially when there are plenty of feather spells for purchase that go past that.
Add necromancy as spells and abilities players can use, even if it is illegal.
Have alchemy not just include poisons but flask attacks, throw a flask of firewater to burn your foes.

Make finding bodies in tall grass easier.
Don't have bodies drop weapons it is not fun to try and find the sword that tumbled down the hill in the tall grass.


Allow a hand item for hand to hand combatants so they can have enchanted/poisoned punch attacks.
Include kicks and throws and holds in unarmed combat.
Have weapon damage hit much harder than spells, spells cover virtually everything, blunt covers only one thing.
Improve armor so stacked enchants don't outpace it.


Allow sneak attacks for all attacks including spells. If you are a thief you should be allowed to use your favorite attack form for your sneak attack.
Remove the security mini game, stop lock picks from breaking, have your skill determine a number of attempts before the lock becomes impassible. Let you try again every 5 security skill points. Have at least a handful of locks in the game that you need 100 security to bypass, and spells wont hit be able to open them. Maybe let 100 security open the must need a key locks.
Make it easier to re-enter stealth in a fight, I don't care if its smoke-bombs as an alchemical item. In crease 1st strike sneak attack damage.

Change the attribute gain at level to flat amounts not dependent on how much you improved a skill. Micromanaging how much you leveled a speed based skill is not fun, effectively forcing minor skill use so you don't get gimped on stats is not fun, building a class not so its what you want to play but it wont screw you by accidental leveling or because only focuses on 2 stats is not fun.

I'd never expect this but have different rating versions, the normal version and the advlt only version, an uncensored version if you want with more gore, nudity, and six.

Idk how long i spent in that game placing books on shelves...